Awards

2017–18 Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Awards

The Graduate College, the Graduate Studies Council, and the Graduate Student Association are proud to announce the 2017–18 recipients of the Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Awards at Western Michigan University

2017-18 Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards

The Graduate College, the Graduate Studies Council, and the Graduate Student Association are proud to announce the 2017–18 recipients of the Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards at Western Michigan University

January 2018 Graduate Student Research and Travel Grant awards

The Graduate College congratulates the following graduate students who are the recipients of the January 2018 Graduate Student Research and Travel Grant awards and wishes them continued success in their research.

The Research Grant Recipients for January 2018

Bilal Alhawamdeh, Civil and Construction Engineering

Miriam Carroll-Alfano, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences

Mehdi Mohammadi, Computer Science

Elizabeth Palmer, Geosciences

Joanna Sblendorio, Biological Sciences

The Travel Grant Recipients for January 2018

Basil Ahmed, Chemistry

Hussein Al-Moukhles, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Taylor Birkholz, Biological Sciences

Rebecca Blok, Medieval Institute

Carolyn Borcherding, Music

Melissa Brown, Anthropology

Elise Drager, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences

Yu Du, Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

Yngvi Einarsson, Psychology

Jonathan Eiseman, Biological Sciences

Alba Fernández, Spanish

Lisa Garcia, Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

Kayla Jenssen, Psychology

Alexander Luck, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences

Steffany Maher, English

Jonathan Miceli, Psychology

Danielle Molenaar, Geography

FNU Nurjannah, Interdisciplinary Health Programs

Drake Olejniczak, Mathematics

Jacob Schipper, Psychology

Emily Sprague, Biological Sciences

Allison Spring, Biological Sciences

Kirsten Welch, Philosophy

Herlik Wibowo, Physics

Huang Wu, Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

September 2017 Graduate Student Research and Travel Grant award recipients announced

The Graduate College congratulates the following graduate students who are the recipients of the September 2017 Graduate Student Research and Travel Grant awards and wishes them continued success in their research.

The Research Grant Recipients for September 2017

Gabriel Alves, Biological Sciences

Anel Arias, Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

Arnesh Bose, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dale Brown, Philosophy

Trent Bullock, Psychology

Shelby Hurst, Geosciences

Angela Kennedy-Mendez, Biological Sciences

Krysta Schoenecker, Geography

David Sottile, Psychology

Vikram Turkani, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Xingzhe Zhang, Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Travel Grant Recipients for September 2017

Hazim Al-Zubaidi, Chemistry

Dweepobotee Brahma, Economics

Niluka Dissanayake, Chemistry

Sean English, Mathematics

Katie Gaviglio, Chemical and Paper Engineering

Kate Hibbard-Gibbons, Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

Yi-chin Huang, English

Julia Huston, Psychology

Brian Molina, Psychology

Rakel Osentoski, Speech Pathology and Audiology

Vanessa Pinto, Occupational Therapy

Arz Qwam Alden, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Alejandro Ramos, Psychology

Tahseen Saeed, Chemistry

Viola Sawyer, Sociology

Susanne Var, Biological Sciences

Garrett Warrilow, Psychology

Tai-Hsien Wu, Chemical and Paper Engineering

The Eleventh Annual Research and Creative Activities Poster and Performance Day Award Recipients

The eleventh annual Research and Creative Activities Poster and Performance Day was held April 13, 2017. Around 200 students, faculty, and staff attended this celebration of the research and creative works done by WMU graduate students. There were 48 poster presentations representing 19 departments from across the University. The 33 faculty judges had the difficult task of scoring the presentations. Seventeen students, listed below, were awarded a monetary prize for their outstanding poster presentations. Congratulations!

Dissertation Completion Fellowships Announced

The Graduate College is pleased to announce that three WMU doctoral students have been named recipients of Dissertation Completion Fellowships for the 2017–18 academic year. The 2017–18 Dissertation Completion Fellowship recipients are as follows:

Steffany Comfort Maher – Department of EnglishSteffany Comfort Maher will receive a full-year fellowship for her dissertation titled, A Critical Inquiry Approach to Teaching Young Adult Literature. Dr. Allen Webb, Steffany’s dissertation advisor, writes that Steffany is “one of the finest doctoral students I have worked with in my 25 years at WMU,” and he concludes that her research will make critical contributions to the field of English education. The dissertation concerns pedagogical approaches to teaching literature to young adults and will take the form of a book that English teachers can purchase and that also can be used as a text book for courses that prepare students for the classroom or that can be incorporated into courses for the continuing professional. According to Dr. Webb, there are professional books about teaching literature to young adults; however, these books lack the foundation of classroom research. Steffany’s textbook for preservice teachers will draw upon an inquiry approach and will also utilize new research in critical youth studies, as well as draw upon secondary classroom settings: thus, the dissertation, and the resulting book, will coalesce in these three important intersections. Steffany is a certified secondary English teacher, with 12 years of experience in middle and high school classrooms; four years of teaching at the college level; and expertise in qualitative and classroom research. She is the recipient of several department level and Graduate College travel grants to present her work at national conferences.

Bilge N. Altay – Department of Chemical and Paper EngineeringBilge Altay will receive a full-year fellowship for her dissertation titled Development and Characterization of Nano Nickel-based Conductive Inks for the Flexo Printing of Printed Electronic Devices. Her dissertation advisor, Dr. Paul Fleming, writes that she is an “outstanding student who has already made significant accomplishments in research.” Bilge’s research is partially supported by the Rossini Scholarship from the Flexographic Technical Association. Her work involves “the study of nickel, an abundant metal with high electrical conductivity. Less expensive than silver and gold, its magnetic properties open up a new class of printed electronic devices, including wireless power, electromagnetic sensors, proximity sensors and micro magnetic field sources,” writes Dr. Fleming. Her work will contribute to the quickly growing technology of Printed Electronics. Bilge is the author or co-author of 14 peer-reviewed articles and has presented her work at both national and international conference venues. She has varied professional experiences and has worked as a research associate on an NSF-funded project, as well as taught within laboratory and classroom settings. She also taught printing for the Department of Printing and Publication Technologies at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, and in the Graphic Communications Department at California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo, CA. She is an active member of the Graduate Student Association and has served as a Graduate College Graduate Ambassador.

Jason Vanfosson – Department of English Jason Vanfossen will receive a full-year fellowship to complete his dissertation titled Boys On the Road: Childhood Geographies and (Auto) Mobility in Young Adult Road Novels. Dr. Gwen Tarbox, Jason’s dissertation advisor, writes that this work “advances scholarship in the fields of children’s literature, LGBTQ studies, and disability studies.” The study works from the essential concept that the North American road trip has historically served as a rite of passage, primarily for young, white cisgender men. Jason “identifies the characteristics of literary fiction that celebrate life on the road in texts such as Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, and then considers how those characteristics have altered when they appear in contemporary novels written for young people and focused on members of underrepresented groups,” writes Dr. Tarbox. Jason is considered one of the finest teachers in the Department of English and recently was awarded the Edward Galligan Scholarship, a prestigious award given to the student who displays the most promise as a scholar working on American authors. Moreover, he is the 2017 recipient of the Gwen Raaberg Excellence in Teaching Award. His reputation has soared beyond the Department of English and beyond WMU. Jason’s road trip narrative has garnered the attention of executives at PBS, and, after a nationwide search, Jason and two other Ph.D. candidates will travel across the United States in May 2017, interviewing other Ph.D. holders who are doing innovative work in their respective fields. The documentary will air in Fall 2017, and according to Dr. Tarbox, will “bring welcome recognition to him and to Western Michigan University.”

2017 Patricia Lee Thompson Dissertation Award Announced

The Graduate College is pleased to announce that two WMU doctoral students have been named recipients of the Patricia Lee Thompson Dissertation Award for the 2017–18 academic year. The Patricia Lee Thompson Dissertation Awards are funded generously from Dr. Donald Thompson, former WMU vice president for research and dean of the Graduate College. Awards are given to assist recipients in all fields of study with expenses associated with the dissertation. The 2017–18 Patricia L. Thompson Dissertation Award recipients:

Peggy Mansfield McNeal - Mallinson Institute for Science EducationPeggy Mansfield McNeal will receive the Patricial L. Thompson Dissertation Award for her dissertation titled, Cognitive Processing in Atmospheric Science: An Investigation of the Forecasting Process. Her dissertation advisor, Dr. Heather Petcovic, writes that Peggy has distinguished herself as an evolutionary researcher, not only within the Mallinson Institute, but also more broadly, in the field of earth science education. Peggy’s research “involves an interdisciplinary approach that blends cognitive science with atmospheric science education and explores the role of discrete intelligence abilities, knowledge, and expertise in weather forecasting.” At the present time, there are no best practices in place to teach weather forecasting to undergraduate students because, as Dr. Petcovic states, “we simply do not know what types of cognitive abilities are involved, or which abilities are more critical than others.” Peggy’s research is of special significance, for the act of predicting weather can help forecasters to warn populations of imminent danger. The primary purpose of her research is to impart an understanding of five discrete intelligence abilities on weather forecasting skill and to characterize the interplay between them. Peggy will also develop a qualitative process model that describes how individuals solve weather forecast problems. An awardee of the Joseph P. Stoltman Endowed Scholarship, Peggy is also the recipient of a Graduate Student Travel Grant, sponsored by the Graduate College. She has presented her work at the WMU Research and Creative Activities Poster and Performance Day, and at professional conferences.

Rebecca Straple – Department of EnglishRebecca Straple will receive the Patricia L. Thompson Dissertation Award for her dissertation titled, Movement and Meaning in Old English and Old Norse-Icelandic Literature. Her dissertation advisor, Dr. Jana Schulman, writes that Rebecca’s research is “noteworthy” and that it will contribute to the “scholarship of Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse-Icelandic literature because of her interdisciplinary approach and application of kinesics [the study of bodily movement] to these literatures.” Rebecca’s excellence was recognized in the award of a prestigious grant to attend the 2017 Humanities Without Walls PreDoctoral Workshop. In addition, she has participated in eight conferences and also organized panels at the WMU International Congress on Medieval Studies. Moreover, she is the recipient of a Graduate College Graduate Student Travel Grant to present a paper at Leeds. Convinced of Rebecca’s organizational skills and exemplary work ethic, Dr. Schulman chose Rebecca to assist her in the administration of a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute grant. As part of this experience, Rebecca wrote a book chapter on digital resources for teaching Beowulf. Working within an established gap in the scholarship – one that recognizes that descriptions of bodily movements are less common in early medieval literature than in later medieval literature, Rebecca works within a broader definition of movement than that used in previous studies of gesture and movement in early medieval literature. She is currently conducting a comparative study of how and when bodily movement is depicted in Old English and Old Norse-Icelandic literature and then analyzes the possible communicative, symbolic, literary, social or cultural meanings of those movements.

March 2017 Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowship Recipients Announced

The Graduate College is pleased to announce that three WMU doctoral students have been named recipients of Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowships for the 2017–18 academic year. The Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowships are funded generously from an endowment made possible by the late poet, artist, and naturalist, Gwen Frostic, a WMU alumna, Class of 1929. Awards are given to assist recipients with the completion of the doctoral dissertation in all disciplines. The 2017–18 Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowships recipients are as follows:

Basil Ahmed – Department of ChemistryBasil M. Ahmed will receive the Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowship for his dissertation titled, NANOJARS: Versatile Platform for the Discovery of Novel Reactivity, Properties and Selective Extraction of Anions. According to his advisor, Dr. Gellert Mezei, Basil’s research “ addresses the need for selective anion extraction agents for the efficient removal of harmful or toxic anions from industrial and agricultural wastes, contaminated lakes and rivers, and also of those anions that interfere with certain technological processes. “The research group to which Basil belongs has recently developed a new class of anion encapsulating agents, termed nanojars, which demonstrate a high affinity for various anions of interest, including highly toxic arsenate and chromate ions,” writes Dr. Mezei. Basil, a fifth year doctoral student, has published 10 journal articles in peer-reviewed journals, all of which have high impact factors, high citation indexes, and low acceptance rates. Basil is not only a researcher but also a teacher who has trained six undergraduate students, as well as two high school students in Dr. Mezei’s research laboratory. Dr. Mezei considers him a “fast learner and a very dedicated researcher,” who has become a “master of various synthesis and characterization/instrumentation techniques and has demonstrated an excellent work ethic.” Upon graduation, Basil will continue his research and explore possibilities as a tenure track professor, where he will lend his skills to the education and cultivation of future researchers.

Tai-Hsien Wu – Department of Paper and Chemical EngineeringTai-Hsien Wu will receive the Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowship for his dissertation research titled, A3D Simulation of Leukocyte Adhesion in Blood Flow. His advisor, Dr. Dewei Qi, writes that Tai-Hsien is a “talented and motivated researcher who has already made a solid contribution to academic research and whose exceptional work will inform multiple disciplines in ways that join scientific inquiry with humanitarian goals.” His current research will study the critical link of inflammation, as a disease-provoking agent, to such illnesses as cancer and cardio vascular disease. This work will establish three goals: 1. The creation of a highly realistic simulation approach, based on the integration of several numerical models for the phenomenon of WBC adhesion in blood flow; 2. The investigation of the fundamental mechanism of influences on the geometries and elasticity of vessel walls, and 3. The development of parallel computing implementations to accelerate the computing speed of the simulations. The research will bring forth a deeper understanding of the complex interactional dynamics among blood cells, blood flow, and vessel walls in the circulation system. As an evolving scholar, Tai-Hsien has a total of 5 manuscripts currently under review in peer-reviewed journals and has presented his research at 12 national and international conferences. His work will make exhilarating and significant contributions to the multidisciplinary fields of chemical engineering, computer science, and bio-engineering.

John Byczynski – Department of HistoryJohn Byczynski will receive the Gwen Frostic Doctoral Fellowship for his dissertation research titled, Everyday Lives of Capitalism: Crow Wing County, Minnesota, 1750 – 1950. Dr. Eli Rubin, John’s dissertation advisor, describes John’s dissertation as written in the style of the longue duree, studying one place as it changes and evolves throughout multiple centuries of time, and derived from the French school of historical thought known as the Annales school in the 1930s – 50s. “This style stems from a reawakening across multiple disciplines of the importance of the environment, and the interaction between long term human processes… and ecological processes,” writes Dr. Rubin. John’s research will contribute to an understanding of the rural Midwest and the tide of capitalism as a gateway that leads to a cogent understanding from socio-political and economic perspectives, among others. Historians liken the Midwest to a “foreign country,” a place lost to historical inquiry – a dead zone in terms of the history of the United States. This research will use a case study approach to unmask the key components of capitalism, fur trade, railroads, the lumber industry, agriculture, mining, tourism, and place them into the context of one narrative that sheds light on the rural Midwest and, more importantly, the role of the rural Midwest within the context of the history of the United States and in the evolution of capitalism.

2016-17 Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Awards

The Graduate College, the Graduate Studies Council, and the Graduate Student Association are proud to announce the 2016–17 recipients of the Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Awards at Western Michigan University

2017 Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards

The Graduate College, the Graduate Studies Council, and the Graduate Student Association are proud to announce the 2016–17 recipients of the Graduate Teaching Effectiveness Awards at Western Michigan University

The All-University Graduate Teachers for 2016–17

Doctoral Level

Cameron J. Manche, Geosciences

Robert A. Makin III, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Kristina Bailey, Political Science

Christopher D. Duchesneau, Mallinson Institute for Science Education

Shawn R. Brueshaber, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Master’s Level

Ryan Filbin, Geography

Margaret E. Baker, Communication

Kristina L. Riewaldt, Music

Jair C. Stout, Comparative Religion

Erin S. Lynch, Medieval Institute

The Department Graduate Teachers for 2016–17

Doctoral Level

Jerico Alcantara, Chemical and Paper Engineering

Kristina R. Bailey, Political Science

Shawn R. Brueshaber, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Timothy Conrad, English

Erin E. Grabarczyk, Biological Sciences

Aous Hammad Kurdi, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Ruoxi Ma, Chemical and Paper Engineering

Robert A. Makin III, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Cameron J. Manche, Geosciences

Tara Maser, Chemistry

Keli Masten, English

Tristan D. McBain, Counselor Education Counseling Psychology

Somaia Mustafa, Educational Leadership Research and Technology

Jennifer O'Brien, Mathematics

Todd R. Sarnstrom II, Economics

Michelle A. Stahl, Counselor Education Counseling Psychology

Madhushani W. Wickramarathna, Physics

Allison Michelle Witucki, Mallinson Institute for Science Education

Master's Level

Ruth A. Aardsma-Benton, History

Margaret E. Baker, Communication

Diana L. Carter, Biological Sciences

Ryan P. Castillo, Sociology

Danielle R. Dupuis, Geosciences

Meghan E. Feeman, Music

Claudia S. Ferreyra, Spanish

Ryan Filbin, Geography

Michael A. Gause, Music

Katie M. Gaviglio, Chemical and Paper Engineering

Fadwa Hamad, Chemistry

Laura L. Hinkley, Counselor Education Counseling Psychology

Sarah Kidd, English

Gerrit J. Van Klaveren, Human Performance and Health Education

Meredith A. Landon, Bronson School of Nursing

Erin S. Lynch, Medieval Institute

Colin MacCreery, Computer Science

Benjamin H. de Waal Malefyt, Human Performance and Health Education

Marissa B. Messenger, Counselor Education Counseling Psychology

Bridget E. Miller, Human Performance and Health Education

Piyush Prakash Pokharna, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Jeff W. Powless, Counselor Education Counseling Psychology

Kristina L. Riewaldt, Music

Brianna M. Scott, Counselor Education Counseling Psychology

Jair Stout, Comparative Religion

Darcy Sturges, English

Liliya Vansovich, Counselor Education Counseling Psychology

Kara M. Woodshank, Family and Consumer Sciences

January 2017 Graduate Student Research and Travel Grant Award Recipients Announced

The Graduate College congratulates the following graduate students who are the recipients of the January 2017 Graduate Student Research and Travel Grant awards and wishes them continued success in their research.